This one can keep you tossing and turning in your sleep.
For practical purposes my Ruger Redhawk 44 Mag. Stainless 5 1/2 inch barrel. You could hunt with it and with 44 Special loads maybe a little hot, it would be a good self defense weapon. A bit heavy to be clearing leather real quick, but a definite fight stopper.
Tough choice Spacedoggy, I reserve the right to change my mind at any time.

TC Contender with multiple barrels. You can hunt with it then change barrels to practice with. And if you need it for SD one shot from that big bore should be sufficient to solve your problems no matter what size/gender/species you need to make stop bothering you.

I would have to say my ruger gp100 .357 with six inch barrel. Can be used to hunt for food and lets just say if i were the bad guy and somedody pulled out a six inched barreled .357 i prolly wouldnt hang around........would you?

Smith & Wesson Model 686 stainless steel 7-shot .357 Mag with a 4" barrel. You can load it down or load it up, it goes bang when you pull the trigger, maintenance is simple, and ammo is plentiful. It shoots SA for precise shooting, or DA for social stuff. Plus it's built like a tank and you can use it for a bludgeon if you run out of ammo.